The day had come, the dreaded braces, which have been glued to my teeth for a year and a half, were triumphantly pulled off this morning. The unexpected feeling that came with the lack of metal in my mouth was incredibly weird, to say the least. Although I was able to savor the couple hours before my retainer, I now have a new problem. I don't know about anyone else, but my first couple hours with the Invisalign consisted of gagging, slurping, and other unpleasant actions. Hopefully it gets better, but no matter, the lack of braces is still glorious.

After Juno ceased to throw more snow our way, my friend and I took full advantage of the time off, strapping our skis on and spending the day outside. We were fortunate to find an extremely steep and untouched hill, covered with three feet of fresh powdery snow. It was to say the least, amazing. Hope everyone else took advantage of the snow day!

Although all of us had gotten a pleasant surprise with this snow day because of Blizzard Juno, many have already started to speculate about the outcome of Wednesday. According to the reliable source that is Mr. Santos, the maintenance crew will not be arriving at Fenn until Wednesday morning. If the storm continues to be as bad as it has been, there is a possibility that they will not be able to clear the facilities before people arrive at 7:30. If I had to take a guess, I would predict another snow day.

Hey everyone! With the snow day restricting most activities, and causing most of us to be cramped inside all day, what better thing is there to do but kick up your feet and turn off your mind to a good movie. These are my favorite movies of all time, definitely check the out if you have the chance!

#5 ferris bueller's day off ﻿

A high school wise guy, Ferris Bueller, sets his mind on having a day off from school, no matter what everyone everyone else thinks. This is a hilarious and great movie that's filled with classic scenes and characters.

#4 Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Ron Burgundy, San Diego's most classy, and down right ridiculous news anchorman, along with his team must combat the ever changing world, where women are starting to become just as powerful as men. This is a gut-busting comedy, that is filled to the brim with classic quotes and punch lines. If you every want a good laugh, this is the way to go!

#3 Indiana Jones and The Raiders of The Lost Ark

Indiana Jones, searching for a golden statue come in contact with the Nazis, and is forced to do what he does best, be the coolest and most daring archaeologist of all time! This is a incredible action movie that is just a blast to watch.

#2 Forrest Gump

Forrest Gump,

#1 THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION

Andy Dufrain, accused of killing his wife is sent to the Shawshank prison, where he bonds with a fellow inmate, Red, over a number of years. The two find solace, and eventual redemption through acts of decency. This is an incredibly done movie, which shows that even in the darkest places, human nature and common kindness can prevail. It is my absolute favorite of all time.

As many of you may know, this Friday, me, and 3 others were given the privilege of D.j.ing the winter dance. Although it was an incredible experience, it was not like anything I had imagined it would be. The "game plan" was to play relatively unique and, in our opinion, great music, but we soon realized that no one else thought so. I realized that being a "Disc Jockey", as that is what D.J. Stands for, requires more than pressing the play button. I quickly had to learn that one must constantly be surveying the crowds to detect the mood, and in turn, play an appropriate song. Many times I would start to play a song that I was excited about, and then be met with a string of lethargic people starting to leave or rolling their eyes. I constantly had to switch to a new song seconds after starting one because of the crowd. Luckily, I had the help of my fellow D.Js Reid, Mickey, and Stephon to assist with this difficult process. In conclusion, being the cornerstone of the dance, and the literal life of the party was challenging, but an amazing and extremely fun opportunity.

Today, the Squad Santos Basket Ball team went out to Applewild to compete in a friendly competition against their Varsity team. As excited as we were, we could sense the imminent threat that they posed. We carried a chip on our shoulder following the win we had earned at Carroll, but as soon the game started, we could tell that we were out matched. Despite our efforts, the team was met with a plethora of three point, layup, and jump shots. As the first half ran out, we were all surprised to see that the score was 36-4. By this point, we had become less focused on winning, and more on just playing good basketball. We seemed to have found a spark, for our second half performance was a polar opposite of the first. Although we were able to rally and close that gaping point deficit, the final score still was 44-24. It was a great effort by everyone.

I have decided to recite Alex Dang's "What Kind of Asian Are You?" slam poem for the W.W. Fenn Speaking Contest. In the past, I had always veered towards shorter poems, and, as it is my last year Fenn, I have accepted the challenge of a significantly longer piece. I was blown away by Alex Dang's ability to weave humor and satire into a very powerful piece about the struggles of both stereotypical and physical racism. Also, as a person of a partial Asian descent, I found that I could relate to some of the topics he mentioned. He uses incredible analogies and parallelism as well.

My first attempt at free verse poetry was met with a wave of writer's block. I had realized how difficult it was to completely discard all structured writing that I had become accustomed to. Despite this challenging process, I felt more accomplished with each completed poem. It required an earnest effort, but I enjoyed it. The hardest part for me was weaving an underlying message in the poems, and although I am extremely far from perfection, I think that I have improved. All in all, this was a very foreign, but enjoyable experience, and I hope you enjoy what I was able to create.

Writer's Block

A dam of ice blocks The heavy snowOn this pitched roofcreaking and moaningLike a sick old manIn an attic room.

The clock ticks--The snow falls,The dam growsLike a bees nest

Finally, a single drop breaks through,then another

and another.

-S

Camp

I sit and waitby an old beech treelike an obedient dogwaiting for his master.

In my hand a canvas bag, seasoned with the dirt and muck of a summer's earth.

Still, I wait.

And wait.

a dusty car finally stops at my feet. Its wheels caked in mud.

a genial smile makes me forgetthe long hours I had waitedfor a mother return to a child